Report: Israel Told US 'No Attack until Early Fall'

Maariv: Netanyahu refused to commit to Obama not to attack Iran before US elections.

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Gil Ronen, 10/04/12 08:58

F-16i takes off at sunset

Israel news photo: Flash 90

Israeli newspaper Maariv reported Tuesday that Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu refused to commit before U.S. President Barack Obama that Israel would not attack Iran before the U.S. presidential elections.

Netanyahu agreed to wait with an Israeli military move only until the [early] fall season, says the paper on its website, citing American sources. This appears to indicate an attack would take place in October.

The sources also said that Netanyahu agreed, in his meeting with Obama early last month, to give more time to "a dialogue" with Iran, accompanied by harsher sanctions against the Persian state. However, he refused to give his assurance that the Israeli strike would occur after the U.S. November elections.

"Netanyahu thinks that after the fall season, the nuclear installations in Iran will enter 'the zone of immunity' from Israeli attacks, and Israel will no longer have the independent option of defending itself militarily on its own," the report said.